A Research Agenda for Identity Work and E-Collaboration

Abstract

Many recent management programmes have sought to establish organisation-wide collaborations that connect people in different functional and occupation groups (Blackler, Crump, & McDonald, 2000). Typically, these programmes are made possible through the deployment and use of e-collaboration technologies such as groupware, workflow systems, intranets, extranets, and the internet (Ciborra, 1996; Hayes, 2001). Examples of these technologies include the use of shared folders for reports, coauthored documents, completed electronic forms, and discussion forums. Through the use of such technologies, work and views are made accessible to staff working within and between functional and occupational groups. Such management programmes are reported to have brought about significant changes in the nature of work within and between intra organizational boundaries, including the erosion of functional and community boundaries (Blackler et al., 2000; Easterby-Smith, Crossan, & Nicolini, 2000; Knights & Willmott, 1999).